The photos you see here on Shorpy are not just resized versions of the images found in the Library of Congress archives -- they are extracted from the LOC's full-resolution reference tiffs: a process that generally takes anywhere from half an hour to several hours per monochrome image, depending on the amount of work that needs to be done to bring detail out of the shadows, suppress overexposed highlights, and remove blemishes caused by dust, scratches and mold. Color images require correction for color cast as well. The before-and-after composite above shows the condition of some of these old glass negatives a century after they were exposed, and how they look after a day at the digital restoration spa. This one is from 1908. Below is the 36 mb archival tiff resized to 512 px wide. The restored version is here.
Below is another before-and-after example. Restored version.
Below: Another monochrome example. Click to enlarge.
A more extreme example below. Click here to enlarge. Compare the full-size Shorpy image to the closest match on the LOC site.
Below: Underexposed, strong blue color cast.
Below: A final monochrome example. Negative by Ansel Adams. Click to enlarge.
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